You will be reading texts written by actual philosophers of education (rather than just someone's rehashing of those texts). This kind of reading will prepare you to have a rich understanding of the concepts behind the educational practices used today. It will also prepare you for succeeding in graduate school, where this kind of reading will be common.
There are three parts to this reading experience: One is a historical set of readings largely from Europe. The second is a set of readings from African-American philosophers of education following the U.S. Civil War. The third has to do with something called Critical Pedagogy, which is a current set of concerns in the field of education.
This is a textbook from the 1920s, a "textbook" in the truest sense of that word, containing texts by various authors for students to read (with brief introductions). If you had been an education student in the 1920s, you might have read much of this 700 page book!! For our purposes, we will limit ourselves to five short texts of your choice (given some limitations).
Choosing Your Texts
Please choose texts from five different centuries. That way you get a sense of history across the field of education.
Understanding Your Texts
Remember, that language changes over time. Many of the texts reflect the history in which they were written. Open up Wikipedia and briefly look up the authors you are choosing so you have a sense of when these people were writing. Think about what life was like in the days of the author and how that contrasts with your life. Note that while you cannot cite Wikipedia in academic papers, it is a wonderful resource for this kind of job, getting a sense of a topic or person. Remember that many Wikipedia articles have links to good websites if you want more information about a person or idea.
Questions to Consider
1. For each text, what does the author believe education is or should be? In other words, what is the best form of education according to this person? Write a couple of sentences to this effect about each author you read.
2. What do your five texts have in common? Where do they differ? You could make a Venn Diagram or write a paragraph about the similarities and a paragraph about the differences.
3. Thinking back to the Social and Cross-Cultural Skills (Bronfenbrenner) assignment and the extension of that assignment in classroom management, how do you personally connect with these texts and their authors? How are your educational conditions similar to or different from those of the author? Where do you agree or disagree with each one? In what ways might you apply what these authors say to your own practice as a teacher? Remember, you can choose to apply something directly, or you can "apply" it by saying, "that's specifically what I will NOT do when I am a teacher."
Part Two: Readings from The African-American Struggle for Education
One way to understand what education is and can be is to examine the rich history of African-American thinkers. Education has been a central issue in the Civil Rights movement.
During the times of slavery, it was against the law in many areas to teach an enslaved person to read or write. Here are examples of two such laws:
Excerpt from South Carolina Act of 1740 Whereas, the having slaves taught to write, or suffering them to be employed in writing, may be attended with great inconveniences; Be it enacted, that all and every person and persons whatsoever, who shall hereafter teach or cause any slave or slaves to be taught to write, or shall use or employ any slave as a scribe, in any manner of writing whatsoever, hereafter taught to write, every such person or persons shall, for every such offense, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, current money.
Excerpt from Virginia Revised Code of 1819 That all meetings or assemblages of slaves, or free negroes or mulattoes mixing and associating with such slaves at any meeting-house or houses, &c., in the night; or at any SCHOOL OR SCHOOLS for teaching them READING OR WRITING, either in the day or night, under whatsoever pretext, shall be deemed and considered an UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY; and any justice of a county, &c., wherein such assemblage shall be, either from his own knowledge or the information of others, of such unlawful assemblage, &c., may issue his warrant, directed to any sworn officer or officers, authorizing him or them to enter the house or houses where such unlawful assemblages, &c., may be, for the purpose of apprehending or dispersing such slaves, and to inflict corporal punishment on the offender or offenders, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, not exceeding twenty lashes.
Think for a moment about why it was against the law to teach enslaved people to read or write.
Despite the laws to the contrary, a number of enslaved people did learn to read and write and became philosophers of education. The readings here reflect these writers' differing thoughts about what education for formerly enslaved people means in the quest for freedom and liberation.
One thing to remember is that these writers knew about each other, read each others' writings, and often disagreed with one another. It is really important to understand that there was not at that time nor is there now a single "African-American perspective" on education or any other topic.
Readings
Frederick Douglass
Read the Frederick Douglass excerpt (from his autobiography) about how he learned to read, to get a sense of how hard it was to get an education under slavery. One thing to relish about this reading is the beauty of Douglass's writing. He didn't just learn to read and write, he learned to express himself eloquently, much better than some people who had had life-long opportunities for education.
Frederick Douglass on Learning to Read and Write as an enslaved person
Following Emancipation, many people recognized the need for educational opportunities for the newly-freed African-Americans. But what would that education be?
Please think and write about the following questions:
1. Why, in your opinion, did people put their lives on the line (and often lose them) just so that children could become educated? What is the power of education?
2. What has been the power of education in your own life? Without it, where would you be?
3. What are the implications of these writings for your own practice as a teacher?
Part Three: Critical Pedagogy Readings
Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education that concerns itself with freedom and self-actualization, including considering the political practices and histories that prevent liberation (e.g., the laws that prevented enslaved people from learning how to read and write). Critical Pedagogy has its roots in John Dewey's progressive education and Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Having thought about who you are (Bronfenbrenner), your classroom management style, and a number of philosophers from the history of education, what is your personal Pedagogic Creed? In other words, what do you believe about education? What do you plan for your own classroom practice as a teacher? If a principal were to consider hiring you, what can you say, given approximately 3-5 pages-worth of space, about who you are as a teacher? Remember, you can't write a novel about this and yet if this is the first thing a potential employer is reading about you, your text needs to differentiate you from every other person applying for a teaching job. Here are some resources for writing this statement: Philosophy of Education Statement
Table of Contents
Introduction
You will be reading texts written by actual philosophers of education (rather than just someone's rehashing of those texts). This kind of reading will prepare you to have a rich understanding of the concepts behind the educational practices used today. It will also prepare you for succeeding in graduate school, where this kind of reading will be common.There are three parts to this reading experience: One is a historical set of readings largely from Europe. The second is a set of readings from African-American philosophers of education following the U.S. Civil War. The third has to do with something called Critical Pedagogy, which is a current set of concerns in the field of education.
Part One: Readings in the History of Education
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzynbT02Yk-yWWtCbGItQmtMX00/edit?usp=sharing(The book is too big to put on the wiki site, so here is a link to it. Download the book.)
http://books.google.com/books/about/Readings_in_the_history_of_education.html?id=hCwWAAAAIAAJ
(A second link in case the first doesn't work. Click on the book cover and you get the book)
This is a textbook from the 1920s, a "textbook" in the truest sense of that word, containing texts by various authors for students to read (with brief introductions). If you had been an education student in the 1920s, you might have read much of this 700 page book!! For our purposes, we will limit ourselves to five short texts of your choice (given some limitations).
Choosing Your Texts
Please choose texts from five different centuries. That way you get a sense of history across the field of education.Understanding Your Texts
Remember, that language changes over time. Many of the texts reflect the history in which they were written. Open up Wikipedia and briefly look up the authors you are choosing so you have a sense of when these people were writing. Think about what life was like in the days of the author and how that contrasts with your life. Note that while you cannot cite Wikipedia in academic papers, it is a wonderful resource for this kind of job, getting a sense of a topic or person. Remember that many Wikipedia articles have links to good websites if you want more information about a person or idea.Questions to Consider
1. For each text, what does the author believe education is or should be? In other words, what is the best form of education according to this person? Write a couple of sentences to this effect about each author you read.2. What do your five texts have in common? Where do they differ? You could make a Venn Diagram or write a paragraph about the similarities and a paragraph about the differences.
3. Thinking back to the Social and Cross-Cultural Skills (Bronfenbrenner) assignment and the extension of that assignment in classroom management, how do you personally connect with these texts and their authors? How are your educational conditions similar to or different from those of the author? Where do you agree or disagree with each one? In what ways might you apply what these authors say to your own practice as a teacher? Remember, you can choose to apply something directly, or you can "apply" it by saying, "that's specifically what I will NOT do when I am a teacher."
Part Two: Readings from The African-American Struggle for Education
One way to understand what education is and can be is to examine the rich history of African-American thinkers. Education has been a central issue in the Civil Rights movement.During the times of slavery, it was against the law in many areas to teach an enslaved person to read or write. Here are examples of two such laws:
Excerpt from South Carolina Act of 1740
Whereas, the having slaves taught to write, or suffering them to be employed in writing, may be attended with great inconveniences; Be it enacted, that all and every person and persons whatsoever, who shall hereafter teach or cause any slave or slaves to be taught to write, or shall use or employ any slave as a scribe, in any manner of writing whatsoever, hereafter taught to write, every such person or persons shall, for every such offense, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, current money.
Excerpt from Virginia Revised Code of 1819
That all meetings or assemblages of slaves, or free negroes or mulattoes mixing and associating with such slaves at any meeting-house or houses, &c., in the night; or at any SCHOOL OR SCHOOLS for teaching them READING OR WRITING, either in the day or night, under whatsoever pretext, shall be deemed and considered an UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY; and any justice of a county, &c., wherein such assemblage shall be, either from his own knowledge or the information of others, of such unlawful assemblage, &c., may issue his warrant, directed to any sworn officer or officers, authorizing him or them to enter the house or houses where such unlawful assemblages, &c., may be, for the purpose of apprehending or dispersing such slaves, and to inflict corporal punishment on the offender or offenders, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, not exceeding twenty lashes.
Think for a moment about why it was against the law to teach enslaved people to read or write.
Despite the laws to the contrary, a number of enslaved people did learn to read and write and became philosophers of education. The readings here reflect these writers' differing thoughts about what education for formerly enslaved people means in the quest for freedom and liberation.
One thing to remember is that these writers knew about each other, read each others' writings, and often disagreed with one another. It is really important to understand that there was not at that time nor is there now a single "African-American perspective" on education or any other topic.
Readings
Frederick Douglass
Read the Frederick Douglass excerpt (from his autobiography) about how he learned to read, to get a sense of how hard it was to get an education under slavery. One thing to relish about this reading is the beauty of Douglass's writing. He didn't just learn to read and write, he learned to express himself eloquently, much better than some people who had had life-long opportunities for education.Frederick Douglass on Learning to Read and Write as an enslaved person
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
Following Emancipation, many people recognized the need for educational opportunities for the newly-freed African-Americans. But what would that education be?Read one of these articles
W.E.B. DuBois Of the Training of Black Men
Booker T. Washington The Awakening of the Negro
Interview with W.E.B. DuBois
This interview discusses the controversy between Booker T. Washington and himselfQuestions to Consider
Please think and write about the following questions:1. Why, in your opinion, did people put their lives on the line (and often lose them) just so that children could become educated? What is the power of education?
2. What has been the power of education in your own life? Without it, where would you be?
3. What are the implications of these writings for your own practice as a teacher?
Part Three: Critical Pedagogy Readings
Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education that concerns itself with freedom and self-actualization, including considering the political practices and histories that prevent liberation (e.g., the laws that prevented enslaved people from learning how to read and write). Critical Pedagogy has its roots in John Dewey's progressive education and Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.Please read both of these articles:
John Dewey "My Pedagogic Creed"
Paulo Freire "The Banking Concept of Education"
Your Philosophy of Education
Having thought about who you are (Bronfenbrenner), your classroom management style, and a number of philosophers from the history of education, what is your personal Pedagogic Creed? In other words, what do you believe about education? What do you plan for your own classroom practice as a teacher? If a principal were to consider hiring you, what can you say, given approximately 3-5 pages-worth of space, about who you are as a teacher? Remember, you can't write a novel about this and yet if this is the first thing a potential employer is reading about you, your text needs to differentiate you from every other person applying for a teaching job. Here are some resources for writing this statement:Philosophy of Education Statement